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(Bondurant Bar ~Normal Pov~)

It was pretty quiet at the bar and Forrest was secretly proud he let Eula go home early. He looked at his older brother Howard, who was smiling back at him in the back of the bar. Jack and Cricket were at a table playing cards. He was proud, Eula shot that man. She stood up for a Kincaid, of that he had no doubt. He was wiping down the bar with a straight face thinking he would close the bar early tonight when he heard a bunch of chatter coming from the front door. He lifted his head hiding his curiosity and watched a group of men came in looking very upset. Leading them in was John Tate. Forrest had no real opinion on him, but preferred not to be casual with him. He continued to wipe down the counter and John sat down right in front of him. Forrest looked at him with little to no interest then looked back at his cloth.

"Hello John. Mmm what can I do for you?" he asked trying to sound polite. John grumbled.

"Need any kind of whiskey you got in this place." he said smugly and lit another cigarette. Forrest looked at him and then around at the men who were sitting down looking scared out of their minds. The middle Bondurant moved under the bar and picked up a jar of white lightning whiskey. He didn't sell it to just anyone, but John was a good customer.

"Long night?" Forrest asked questioning himself on why he was even talking to this man. John nodded chugging down the alcohol.

"Mhmm. We found two dead bodies up in the mountains. They belong to that new sheriff." he said. Forrest winced and looked down a bit.

"Hm. Is that so?" he asked and his eyes moved right over to Howard with a deep frown and a glare to match. Howard ducked his head now and looked away with frown of his own.

"Yeah, that deputy said he sent them to pick up that Negro woman from your bar earlier today. We made a little stop at her house today didn't we boys?" he asked and everyone in that bar hooped and hollered. By now Jack and Cricket were tuning in and immediately Forrest's eyes shot back at him and he was trying to stop his lip from curling up into a twitch.

"You…went to her house?" he asked, his right hand moving slowly under the bar, but the no man noticed it. A shot gun was hooked under it and he was going to blow this man away if he said what Forrest thought he would say. John frowned now.

"Yeah, but her dead beat father and brothers stopped us. I'll tell you those city boys are tough to crack but I'll tell you one thing. By now that girl would be hanging from a tree," he said eyeing his drink then looked up at Forrest. "You wouldn't happen to know what happen would ya?"

Forrest stopped his hand motions and placed both his hands back on the bar and looked at John with a calm stare even though he wanted to hit the man with his brass knuckles for saying such things as hanging his girl, but for her own safety he held back.

"You know any business handled in my bar stays in my bar John. Whatever happened to those men…I'm sure they had it coming." he said in a low tone. John looked shocked but then again everyone knew what the Bondurant boys were about. After clearing his throat, John bought whiskey for the rest of the men, and they all left. Right now Forrest was going through a lot of emotions and he felt his fists shake. Howard remained in the back not sure what to say. Forrest looked at him now and then Jack who cowered under his gaze a bit. He wanted to yell at them and maybe hit Howard. But he couldn't. Eula ran through his mind and he felt as if he was going to explode if he didn't see her tonight. He speed walked out the door and quickly got into his truck and sped off down the road towards the Kincaids. He felt anxiety, as if John was lying, as if he really did what he said he would've done.

Why did he feel this way? He knew deep down that the love and fear were twisting together in his mind and he just needed to see her again. He didn't care if her father or brothers caught him. Not even they would stop him from taking her into his arms.

(Eula's POV)

It was early but everyone had fallen asleep just the same. I could not get those men out of my head and I was afraid if I closed my eyes, I would see them again and my dreams would take me too far that they would become a nightmare of them dragging me from my home. I sat up and ran my fingers through my hair. It was a bit matted and I just needed some air. It was so hot in here. I moved from my room and slowly tip toed out the house and I looked up at the sky. It was silent and for a second I was afraid of it. I moved slowly down the porch and walked towards the street. There was a field across from our house and I just wanted to walk in it. I moved towards it and slowly walked around the large spacious area. The air was warm and the wind blew against me making me feel somewhat at ease. I was probably endangering myself by being here alone, for one of the men could be waiting for me to leave my home, but no one came as of now. I then looked down the road and saw bright lights coming down the road. Was it someone driving by, or a man coming to get me?

What should I do? I was too far from the house and I knew I should prepare myself to scream loudly so if they shoot me my dad will know something had happened. It was a truck that merged on the side of the grass and I tensed not being able to recognize it due to the darkness. Then I heard a door open and shut and I waited and then saw him coming around. Forrest. He looked so shocked and afraid and I was confused. Had something happened at the bar, to Howard or Jack? His eyes stayed hooked on mine and he just walked slowly towards me and I did the same looking worried for him.

"Forrest, what's wrong?" I asked. Once I was in front of him he just grabbed me roughly and pulled me into him kissing me hard and I was whimpered at the sudden force and gripped his shoulders. He pulled back and I never knew I would see such fear in his eyes.

"Oh god," I heard him mumble out almost in a whispering tone. "John Tate came to my bar and told me what happened. I had to see you no matter what. I had to make sure you were okay." he said trying to explain calmly, but I could easily see the wave of emotions he felt. I gasped softly and then pulled him into a hard embrace and he wrapped his arms around me tightly, one hand coming up to stroke my hair. "I was ready to kill him the minute he told me he came here."

He continued to hold me tight and he pulled back a bit and looked down shaking his head.

"Eula," he said softly and I could tell he was holding something back and he slowly looked up at me with deep eyes. "I was afraid."

Those three words literally shocked me. I had never seen Forrest show off the emotion of fear. Me being shot was the one and only time he showed it, but never once admitted it. My fingers came up and caressed his cheeks. For a moment I almost didn't know what to say and I then looked down at my necklace and then up at him and he just stared into my eyes and I slowly removed my hands and then wrapped them around my own neck. I took off the necklace and then wrapped it around his neck.

"Keep this close and I will forever be close to you." I whispered and he looked down at the necklace and I took his cheeks in mine and kissed him softly and he returned it yet deeply and then he pulled back and rested his forehead against mine, something we had both grown accustom to doing.

"Marry me, Eula." he whispered.